


Beyond the Sky Line

by PinkPunk89



Series: Go Ahead and Come Back [1]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Aged-Up Character(s), Alternate Canon, Angst, F/M, Goodbyes, Mutual Pining, Voltron
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-23
Updated: 2017-12-23
Packaged: 2019-02-18 23:05:33
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,430
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13110384
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PinkPunk89/pseuds/PinkPunk89
Summary: Shay always knew that Hunk would leave on his mission to save the Universe from the Galra. And that it would hurt.





	Beyond the Sky Line

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first time writing a fanfic! I’ve never approached the medium before mostly because I don’t feel comfortable writing characters who aren’t my own. But this is an important story to me, and I had to tell it like this and on AO3. Do hope you like it.
> 
> This is in a slightly different AU where it’s assumed that the Paladins did their thing for a few years by the time they come to the Balmera. Hunk is 19 and Shay is also not a minor (unsure what the age of Balmeran majority is, but she has passed it). There is nothing explicit sexually, but discussion of the relationship they have had in their time together.
> 
> Overall I wanted to tell a story that isn’t often considered, that of Shay and her thoughts as her yellow Paladin leaves. I love how Shay and the Balmerans are written and so I tried to capture how it would flow from her brain.

As she watched the love of her life gather up his possessions into a yellow duffel bag, Shay could only sit numbly on her bed. She tried to catch the eye of this man, her savior, the one who had shown her things beyond the sky line, but now he was uncharacteristically stoic, like a mountain but somehow devoid of quintessence; like a thing that is dead and knows it. “Hunk,” she quietly pleaded. The Paladin bristled a moment, but returned to his work.

Shay’s eyes began to mist as she remembered the last sky cycle. This stranger from beyond the sky had brought with his yellow lion so much to the young Balmeran. He had brought an end to the crushing hold of Galra tyranny, he had restored life to her home by making amends for the wounds of the past. He had taught her the word “Free”.

And he’d given her other things too. Things that Shay would treasure as long as she lived, but could never speak aloud because her people would never understand. He’d called it a “cock”, and though she had never seen one before, let alone touched one, he assured her that she had done very well even as he writhed in what looked like great pain. But this pain was different; full of life and hunger and joy. It made her hands sticky and she wanted to touch it every day, just to make him dance as he had, and be joyful. And for a time she did, and he did, and he was. And that was good.

Another good was what Hunk had shown Shay about herself. To Balmerans, touch was an act almost sacred. Balmerans touched for comfort, for healing, for communication. But Hunk had shown Shay that touch could convey still more. Hunk was able to touch her in ways that gave her pleasure, conveying a feeling as wordless as it was profound. There were places he could touch her to convey love and warmth throughout every inch of Shay. There were ways of touching that made Shay cry out and lose control of herself, overcome by bliss and hunger the likes of which she'd never known. If he ran his fingers along her abdomen just so, Hunk could make her dance just for him. He showed her that, more than just a carrier for energy from one source to another, the body could be enjoyed and explored of and for its own sake. And that knowledge was perhaps the greatest good he had to give her, though it was a way starkly outside Balmeran culture.

And at night, after they had made each other dance and sing, they would sit atop his yellow lion and watch the sky, and Shay would hope the night would never end. Hunk would hold her in his strong arms and tell her of the planets he’d seen, the many different kinds of life in the Universe, all touched by Galra, and all the responsibility of the Paladins of Voltron to set free, as they had done to Balmera.

And he also told her of his home, a planet called Earth. On Earth there were many different foods to eat, and Hunk loved almost every single one of them, except for these things called oysters, which he said tasted like snot, something that sometimes leaked out of the heads of humans. Hunk had told her that his liking food so much had caused him to grow to be roughly the size of a normal, healthy Balmeran, or “fat”, as was the human word. It also happened that Hunk wasn't actually his name, either. He had whispered to Shay his birth name, said that he was named for his dark hair, which he'd had all his life. But instead of being known for his beautiful black hair, which was streaked with starlight when they sat together beneath the sky line, he had been called Hunk, which meant fat, by those around him, and one day he had given up correcting them. On Earth, it seemed, people who were of Balmeran, or “fat”, size were often made to feel bad about it. To Shay, this was difficult to understand. Hunk was of a perfect size, just right for holding and resting against, and she appreciated every inch of him, including his hair and his “fat” and his abandoned name. He was all of him her Hunk, and if humans were not going to appreciate him, Shay vowed to herself that she would give him all the appreciation she could. Could they not see he was just perfect?

Hunk’s fellow Paladins had given him some time to spend with her before they continued their endless journey. They called it “shore leave” or “vacation”, and it was, Shay reasoned, a thanks to Hunk for his work in saving Balmera. Shay was more than grateful for this gift of time, but so much about this man and his ways was distressing in its impermanence. No one “left” Balmera. Balmera was home, and she was a good home, because she provided for Shay and her people and they in gratitude repaid Balmera by helping her with her life cycle. Hunk had been happy to assist in the nurturing of the crystals, and would talk endlessly about the physical properties and realities of Balmera. “Science” he called it. There were more Balmera in the Universe, he said, and each of them were seen by those who were not of Balmera as a resource, a thing of impermanence. Most were still ruled by the Galra, and as with Shay’s home the crystals were only taken and the gift never honored or nurtured. Learning this made Shay deeply sad for all of the pain and suffering and cruelty that were the lives of so many others. And it was when she thought of this that she knew that Hunk and the Paladins of Voltron were doing good when they were away from her.

Shay’s appreciation for Hunk had since she met him deepened from mere gratitude for all the good he’d brought to her and her people into something more. She delighted in her days and nights spent with him. In her quietest moments, she hoped that he would stay with her, or that somehow, beyond reason, she could go with him. When he spoke of leaving, it filled her with great sadness and made her chest hurt. She knew better, however, than to ask him to stay. Shay did not get what she wanted in her life, for that was not what her life was. She tried very hard not to let her hurt show to Hunk or the other Balmerans, but there were times when Hunk and his Voltron felt no less cruel than Galra. To awaken these feelings within her, only to leave? At least Galra never spoke of more, never talked of life beyond Balmera.

And now this man who had given Shay everything had finished packing and was zipping up his bag. Shay cleared her throat and tried to keep the tears out of her voice. “Hunk,” she tried again.

This time, Hunk paused. “Yeah?” he asked, his voice quieter and heavier than it should have been. Hunk carried a great weight, and it held his words down.

“Must you go?” A simple question that, like the way he touched her at night, conveyed so much more.

He hung his head. “Shay, I...look. Yeah, I gotta. They need me out there.”

Shay nodded. “You must go because you are a Paladin of Voltron,” she intoned quietly.

Hunk shrugged. “I...yeah. I mean, it’s who I am. Like I told you.”

“And Voltron is a symbol of hope and freedom for all in the Universe.” The edge in her voice began to glint.

“I mean, you’re not wrong? That’s kinda what we do. We go places, fight the Galra, although most of them are robots as far as I can tell, so it’s not like they can’t just make more.” His words were tumbling like a cave-in. “Which is why we keep fighting. We have to. For the sake of the Universe. We’re like a symbol of hope.”

Shay struck. “And because you are a Paladin of Voltron you must take my hope away so that others may have it.”

Hunk gasped slightly. “Shay, look,” and for the first time he met her gaze. “I know what you want. I do. I get it. But I...I have to go.”

“But why?” She reached for his hand, but he pulled it away, His reflexes were only this quick in times of great danger.

“Because I know me, and I know how I feel about you. I know that I’m either gonna stay here with you forever or I’m not. And I can’t do that right now. I can’t make that choice yet. Because I gotta...I gotta go be a Paladin.”

Tears were welling in her eyes. “But, did you not enjoy your time here?”

Hunk dropped his bag. “God, YES! Okay? So much.” His eyes were wet, too.

“Then I have done a wrong,” she said sadly. It was a lesson Shay had learned from before her memories were pictures. If you do a wrong, you will be hurt. A simple lesson, yet one carved into her heart. Now Shay hurt a great deal, so she had clearly done a great wrong. This followed, but she was unsure what she had done. “Please tell me what it is so that I do not repeat it,” she asked with bitter sincerity for the courtesy that Galra would sometimes show her before beating her.

“What? No!” Hunk looked about to reach out to Shay, but stopped short. He looked hurt as well. “Shay, listen, you didn't do anything wrong.”

“And yet I must suffer,” she replied flatly. “The lessons of your freedom are strange ones.”

Hunk swallowed. “This isn't because of you, Shay. I promise. You have been SO good to me.” In his voice Shay heard the quiet weight of a deep truth. “You’re not like anyone I’ve ever met in the whole freaking Universe, and I hate that I can’t just stay with you and harvest crystals and take care of the Balmera with you and wake up every morning in your arms. I wish so much that I could. But I...but I...”

At his hesitation, Shay’s heart gave way. “It is a cruel thing, my Hunk, to give me hope and then take it away.” Her breathing became raspy and uneven, and she felt a pain in her chest. “Galra never nurtured hope.”

“Shay...”

“But you must bring it to the entire Universe, yes.” Shay continued. “You must restore hope everywhere, and after the restoring you must move on to the next ones who are without hope. And the next, until the entire Universe has been given your hope. This is such a noble thing you do!” she spat.

Hunk recoiled, wounded by her words. “C’mon, that’s not-“

Shay broke. “Do not you see that I need you too, Hunk? Why must you save the Universe if you abandon those you have set free? Do you expect me to find my way alone?” She was sobbing now, and she leaned against a wall to support her sobs.

For a time Hunk was silent. Shay did not look at him, but could hear him crying softly. Part of her was glad to hear him cry. She wanted him to hurt for the wrong he was doing to her, even as she felt guilty for this thought. Because still Shay had deep feelings for Hunk. She wished he would reach out to her, touch her as he had whenever she was sad, but she knew that only pain would be in that touch. Finally, he sniffed. “I’m so sorry,” his voice was heavy. “But I HAVE to do this, Shay. Do you understand?”

And Shay did understand. “You did not ask to be a Paladin, you have said,” she sighed, face and voice still soaked.

He shook his head, his hands pleadingly outstretched. “No I didn’t. I’m sorry we didn’t meet at a better time.”

Shay sat down on her bed and still did not look at him. “What is a better time than the time that is now?”

Hunk stooped to grab his bag. “I’m sorry,” was all he could mumble. He cleared his throat, stood up straight, and started for the door.

Like lightning Shay grabbed his hand and held tight, even as he recoiled. “Please remember me,” she begged. Her eyes now burned with emphatic fire.

Hunk coughed, at war with himself. “How could I not, Shay? You’re a very difficult woman to forget.”

Shay squeaked, the pain in her chest mixing with a rush of what Hunk had called butterflies. She still held his hand fast. “And one day, when you have saved the Universe, will you come back to me? As you vowed?”

Hunk’s expression was that of one struck on the head with a rock. “You would want me back?” he asked, utterly dumbstruck.

Shay’s breath was shuddering again. “Yes. Please?”

“But why? After all this?”

She touched his cheek with her hand, and her eyes pleaded. “I know that you believe you must go, but that does not need to mean you cannot also return. You have brought me hope, my Hunk. You have taught me to believe.”

Hunk’s eyes were filled with tears. “Believe in me? Really?”

Shay knew that Hunk’s quest was an endless one, for the Universe was so much larger than Shay. But this impossible man had already done so many impossible things, and so, after a deep breath, she meant it when she said “Yes, in you I believe.” She squeezed his hand and smiled cautiously. A time of silence passed between the two. Something happened, but neither of them were exactly sure at the moment what.

His eyes showed the immense burden that carried the Paladin away. “I hope you’re right,” he whispered weakly. And then Hunk was gone.

Shay had been born without hope. Before meeting Hunk, she had never dreamed that anything other than a life under Galra was possible. But he had shown her so very much in their short time together. It was her most fervent hope that one day she would see the yellow Paladin of Voltron again, and they would once more hold each other atop his lion and stare up at the night beyond the sky line.

**Author's Note:**

> And that’s Chapter 1! Thank you so much for reading! I hope you get something out of it. 
> 
> Chapter 2 will be explicitly spicy. Not sure when it will be done (probably after New Years tbh).
> 
> So did you like it!?! I’m super nervous what with this being my first fianfic, and I hope I’ve followed proper fandom protocol and everything. I’d love to know your thoughts!


End file.
